Honda launches suit to save patent right
( 2002-07-26 09:57) (1)
Japanese automaker Honda made a court bid on Thursday for the reconfirmation of a design patent it says was wrongfully withdrawn.
The lawsuit is being contested by the Patent Reexamination Board under the State Intellectual Property Office, the authority.
No judgment was made in the first hearing at the Beijing No 1 Intermediate People's Court on Thursday.
The board announced that Honda's right to a "mini motorcycle" last year was invalid because a similar design had already been patented. Honda had originally been conferred the patent in 1994.
The decision was made after studying evidence provided by the Shanghai Feiling Motorcycle Co and Zhejiang Huari Co, according to court sources.
"Although similar in basic structure, as both are peddle-assisted motorbikes, our design looks totally different in many crucial parts," claimed Zhang Shouzhi, representing Honda.
"For example, the front part and steering gear are the sectors which attract the biggest attention of consumers.
"If many elements of a design are different from that of another, how can you say they are the same or similar as a whole?"
While Honda told the court that the main parts of two designs are not the same, the lawyer representing the patent re-examination board insisted they were.
"Only the back of two motorcycles looks a little different and this will not make them easily distinguishable to ordinary consumers," the lawyer said.
The Feiling and Huari companies were also admitted to participate in the case as third parties.
Lawsuits have been brought against the two companies by Honda for infringements of its patent right.
In the first half of this year, nearly one-10th of 200 intellectual property right (IPR) cases involved foreigners, according to Ma Laike, deputy chief judge of the court's IPR Division.
"All parties, both domestic and overseas, have received equal treatment and protection under Chinese law," said Ma.
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